The ROF 2024 presented in New York

The 45th edition of the Rossini Opera Festival, to be held in Pesaro from 7 to 23 August 2024, was presented at the Italian Consulate in New York. The Consul General Fabrizio Di Michele, the Mayor of Pesaro Matteo Ricci, the Intendant Ernesto Palacio and the Artistic Director Juan Diego Flórez spoke. The programme, never so extensive, will cover a period of no less than 17 days, 4 more than usual, in order to offer more opportunities to attend performances to the public that will be in Pesaro from all over the world, also coinciding with the events of Pesaro Italian Capital of Culture 2024. Click here for the programme.

As many as five operas will be performed: two new productions (Ermione and Bianca e Falliero) and three revivals (L'equivoco stravagante, Il barbiere di Siviglia and Il viaggio a Reims by the young members of the Accademia Rossiniana). The concert programme includes the world premiere of the new edition of the Messa di Ravenna, the Cantata Il vero omaggio, two opera-symphonic Concerts and five Belcanto Concerts. The programme will be closed with a concert performance of Il viaggio a Reims, in celebration of the 40th anniversary of its first performance in modern times at the ROF in 1984. 

The Festival will be inaugurated on 7 August at the PalaScavolini, a new theatre space reopened within the already famous PalaFestival, by Bianca and Falliero, which has not been performed at the ROF since 2005.  Roberto Abbado will conduct the Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale della Rai and the Coro Teatro Ventidio Basso. The cast includes Jessica Pratt (Bianca), Aya Wakizono (Falliero), Dmitry Korchak (Contareno), Giorgi Manoshvili (Capellio), Nicolò Donini (Priuli), Carmen Buendía (Costanza), Dangelo Díaz (Cancelliere), Claudio Zazzaro (Ufficiale/Usciere). The performance is entrusted to Jean-Louis Grinda, Rudy Sabounghi is in charge of sets and costumes and Laurent Castaingt will be the lighting designer. The remaining performances will be held on 11, 14 and 19 August. 

This will be followed on 8 August at the Teatro Rossini by the premiere of L’equivoco stravagante, already staged with great success at ROF 2019. Michele Spotti will lead the Filarmonica Gioachino Rossini and the Coro Teatro della Fortuna in the performance conceived by Moshe Leiser and Patrice Caurier with sets by Christian Fenouillat, costumes by Agostino Cavalca and lighting by Christophe Forey. The singing company includes Maria Barakova (Ernestina), Nicola Alaimo (Gamberotto), Pietro Adaíni (Ermanno), Carles Pachón (Buralicchio), Patricia Calvache (Rosalia) and Matteo Macchioni (Frontino). The remaining performances will be held on 12, 16 and 21 August. 

The second new production, Ermione, will be staged from 9 August at the Vitrifrigo Arena. The opera has not been performed at the ROF since 2008. Michele Mariotti will conduct the Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale della Rai and the Coro Teatro Ventidio Basso. The staging is by Johannes Erath, with sets by Heike Scheele, costumes by Jorge Jara, video by Bibi Abel and lighting by Fabio Antoci.  The cast includes Anastasia Bartoli in the title role, alongside Victoria Yarovaya (Andromaca), Enea Scala (Pirro), Juan Diego Flórez (Oreste), Antonio Mandrillo (Pilade), Michael Mofidian (Fenicio), Martiniana Antonie (Cleone), Paola Leguizamón (Cefisa) and Tianxuefei Sun (Attalo). The remaining performances will be held on 13, 17 and 20 August. 

The fourth opera on the bill, to be staged at the Vitrifrigo Arena from 10 August, will be Il barbiere di Siviglia, applauded to great acclaim at the ROF in 2018 and reprised in the autumn edition in 2020. The performance, conceived by Pier Luigi Pizzi, will be directed by Lorenzo Passerini, conducting the Orchestra Sinfonica G. Rossini and the Coro Teatro Ventidio Basso. In the company of singers, Maria Kataeva (Rosina), Andrzej Filonczyk (Figaro), Jack Swanson (Conte d'Almaviva), Carlo Lepore (Don Bartolo), Michele Pertusi (Don Basilio), Patrizia Biccirè (Berta), William Corrò (Fiorello/Uficiale). The remaining performances will be held on 15, 18 and 22 August. 

The 36th edition of the Accademia Rossiniana "Alberto Zedda", which kicked off on 1 July, will close on 15 July at the Teatro Rossini with the usual Final Concert. The students, conducted by Davide Levi, will be the protagonists, on 16 and 19 August at the PalaScavolini, of Il viaggio a Reims conceived by Emilio Sagi and taken over by Matteo Anselmi. The singers of the Accademia Rossiniana will also perform in the Salons Rossini, concerts held in the historic towns of the province. 

The concert programme is packed, with ten appointments all scheduled at the Teatro Rossini. It will begin on 11 August with a world premiere: the Messa di Ravenna, performed in the edition by Ferdinando Sulla, also conductor of the Filarmonica Gioachino Rossini and the Coro Teatro della Fortuna, as well as soloists Jorge Juan Morata, Tianxuefei Sun and Alejandro Baliñas.

This will be followed on 15 August by the Cantata Il vero omaggio, with Giulio Cilona conducting the Filarmonica Gioachino Rossini and the Coro Teatro della Fortuna. The cast includes Sara Blanch, Victoria Yarovaya, Ruzil Gatin and Alejandro Baliñas. 

There will be two opera-symphony concerts: on 18 August Alessandro Cadario will conduct Gregory Kunde and the Filarmonica Gioachino Rossini; on 20 August Jacopo Brusa will conduct Giorgio Caoduro and the Orchestra Sinfonica G.. Rossini. Also on the programme are five Belcanto Concerts: featuring Eleonora Buratto (12 August), Pietro Spagnoli (13 August), Ramón Vargas (14 August), Sara Blanch (17 August) and Daniela Barcellona (21 August). On 22 August, Delphine Constantin-Reznik (harp) and Roman Reznik (bassoon) will be the stars of Rossinimania. 

The ROF 2024 will close on 23 August at the PalaScavolini with a concert performance of Il viaggio a Reims. Diego Matheuz will conduct the Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale della Rai and the Choir of the Teatro Ventidio Basso, as well as a cast consisting of Vasilisa Berzhanskaya (Corinna), Maria Barakova (Marchesa Melibea), Sara Blanch (Countess of Folleville), Karine Deshayes (Madama Cortese), Jack Swanson (Cavalier Belfiore), Dmitry Korchak (Count of Libenskof), Michael Mofidian (Lord Sidney), Erwin Schrott (Don Profondo), Nicola Alaimo (Baron of Trombonok), Vito Priante (Don Alvaro), Alejandro Baliñas (Don Prudenzio), Tianxuefei Sun (Don Luigino), Paola Leguizamón (Delia), Martiniana Antonie (Maddalena), Vittoriana De Amicis (Modestina), Nicolò Donini (Antonio), Jorge Juan Morata (Zefirino/Gelsomino). 

The founding bodies of the ROF are the Municipality of Pesaro, Intesa Sanpaolo and the Fondazione Scavolini. The Festival is implemented with the support of the Ministry of Culture, the Municipality of Pesaro, the Marche Region, EBWorld, and the Fondazione Meuccia Severi. The event in New York was organised with the collaboration of  Neos, an Italian airline that is a part of Alpitour World, and the Marche Region.